Shame

Ruiz awoke to a feeling that he had never dreamed that he would feel. When going to bed, Maria had tried to hug him again, but when he tried to hug back, she once more felt that twinge of fear at his underside. He'd wrapped himself in a sheet to separate them, and that had been a good enough gesture. In fact, it had been so meaningful that she crawled into bed behind him, acting as his big spoon. It wasn't so bad as he had thought, and he found comfort in holding her hoof against his chest. She was still with him. She was still being good to him, despite everything. He had never been so happy, even before his family had been taken from him.

It was still raining, though it was much lighter now than it had been yesterday. The window was no longer clouded over with running water, but rather just peppered with a spray of mist. It was clear enough that he could see the clouds in the sky without so much as standing up.

Before long, she woke up, too, and after the shock of waking up next to him wore off, replaced with the memory that she had made the conscious decision to sleep in his bed, she helped him to his hooves and gave him a kiss. "G-good morning, she forced out. "S-s-sleep well?"

Ruiz nodded. "How about you, señorita?"

She nodded gingerly. It was clearly written on her face that she was still uncomfortable around him, but she wanted to change that. In the interim, there was really nothing he could do. He would just have to wait for her to come around on her own. Trying to push toward her would only result in her moving further away.

They went downstairs for breakfast, a much easier event now. He would find little issue walking all the way back to the farm, he reasoned. Even Maria was doing better today than she had last night, actually managing to order a plate of eggs over easy and fried potatoes from the stallion server.

The doctor came to see them in the middle of breakfast, not expecting them to be downstairs already. He wanted to usher them back upstairs for the privacy, but was content to let them finish eating first. He very much wanted to see how Ruiz handled stairs.

"You both seem to be recovering well," he smiled, once the door was closed. "Ruiz, I expected you to be unable to walk for a week, and here you are, using stairs."

"I'm uncomfortable being waited on, señor," answered Ruiz. "I didn't want to keep bothering everypony."

"I meant that in regards to your injuries. I was not expecting you to be up and walking around so easily. In fact, it's because of this that I need to check your stitches and replace your bandages. I need to see if you tore something." He turned to Maria. "I'll do yours next, so if you want to step out for this, feel free."

She stayed where she was, and Ruiz smiled. He was okay letting her sit in on his bandage changing. It was nothing she hadn't seen before. She'd been treating his injuries for a little over a month now, and had even seen inside of him at the worst of it. She was a tough mare, and likely would have little issue with this.

The bandages came off, and Ruiz had the first glance at his chest. He hadn't realized how severe his injuries had been. The lines of stitches stretched out in multiple directions, in a vast web that covered his entire torso. It was extensive, lending to how much it hurt to move around and making clear why the doctor thought he wouldn't be moving around just yet. However, everything seemed fine, and he was quickly cleaned up with a sponge and sealed up in in a crisp, clean layer of bandages.

Maria was next, and her injuries hadn't required nearly as many stitches. They covered a lot of surface area, but most weren't particularly deep. Her ribs had protected most of her organs, and she was also cleaned and wrapped.

After the doctor left, Ruiz sat down next to Maria and took her hoof. "It's stopped raining, señorita. We can go home."

Maria nodded. "I don't w-want my mom throwing a f-fit when we c-c-come in. Let me t-talk to her, first. I'm sure she'll underst-stand."

"Are you sure, señorita?" asked Ruiz. "I'm no stranger to being hated. Plus, it was my idea to come save you, after all."

"I'm sure," she nodded. "I'm not t-trying to keep you out of t-t-trouble, I just don't want her t-t-to hit you."

Ruiz kissed her hoof. "You are more than I deserve, señorita. If you insist, then I shall oblige."

The two shared a hug, with Ruiz being more gentle with a newfound understanding of just how injured she was. While he could keep applying the same pressure and she would be fine, it wouldn't have felt right to him. He needed, for his own self respect, to make sure she was comfortable.

As they walked out of the saloon, for the first time, Ruiz saw the main fountain at the center of town. Every time he'd come through before, it had been covered with a shack, but now, that had been ripped down. In its place stood a stone statue, with the top half ripped off. It depicted the back half of a pony, and at its hoof, there was a round hole, where a pole might be placed. A large basin at the bottom that was now filled with rainwater, albeit tainted with dust, had four grooves from which water could spill into and run along the metal accoutrements to spray everything down with a cooling mist.

Maria nudged him and pointed to a stallion next to the fountain, trying to convince the pump to return to power. In addition to this, a stonemason was prepping a large block of some kind of black and red stone to be carved, likely to replace the statue atop the big well.

The town was finally coming back together, and given enough time to recover, would likely return to flourishing, as the desert flower that one would find amidst the harsh thorns of the cacti that surrounded it.